Addressing Global Challenges

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To expand Stanford University's role in addressing global challenges, the university is transforming itself through multidisciplinary initiatives in human health, the environment and sustainability, and international affairs. Pilot programs also focus on K-12 education, increasing the role of the arts and creativity, and enhancing graduate education.

 

  • Improving Human Health

    The path from exciting basic laboratory discovery to valuable practical application for improving human health has many barriers. Vice Provost Ann Arvin discusses how Stanford's Initiative on Human Health confronts these barriers.    

  • Seeking Sustainable Solutions

    The United States must take a lead in confronting the world food crisis. But to do so will require a genuine commitment to improving the well-being of people around the world.

  • Making Teaching Affordable

    Efundunke Hughes knew her future lay in teaching. She planned to earn a master's degree and teaching credential through the Stanford Teacher Education Program, but the price tag was daunting. The new Dorothy Durfee Avery Loan Forgiveness Program eases that burden for any graduate who teaches in an underserved community.

  • Y2E2 Building Sets Sustainability Standards

    The new Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building, home to Stanford's Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability, uses 56 percent less energy and 90 percent less potable water for fixtures than a comparable structure built in a traditional fashion. 

  • Rethinking Graduate Education

    Outstanding graduate programs are the hallmark of a great university. How are Stanford's graduate education programs being enhanced in light of emerging opportunities and needs in the 21st century? Vice Provost for Graduate Education Patti Gumport explains.

  • Faculty Development Initiative on Race and Ethnicity

    Stanford has launched a five-year effort to appoint the best scholars in the nation whose research focuses on the study of ethnicity and race. The Faculty Development Initiative marshals new university resources and leadership to recruit and hire rising stars in the humanities and social sciences.

  • New Fund Supports Humanities Research

    In an effort to stimulate new research endeavors among Stanford's humanities faculty, President John Hennessy created a $1.1 million program to fund collaborative, multidisciplinary projects. The program is called the Presidential Fund for Innovation in the Humanities.

  • Childcare Aid Program Offered for Junior Faculty

    In an effort to help junior faculty cope with the twin pressures of raising families and winning tenure, Stanford has created a new program to provide financial assistance for childcare to families with children ages 5 and under.